FC Barcelona is the European champions for a third time , the second in four seasons .
Goals in either half from Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi, defeated Manchester United FC in Rome.
Andrés Iniesta was the orchestrator, finding Eto'o inside the area, but there was still plenty for the striker to do with Nemanja Vidić in close attendance.
One swift turn inside the centre-back later, Eto'o was free to prod a shot inside Edwin van der Sar's near post.
United's vocal supporters were stunned into silence and their team mirrored that reaction, with Barcelona enjoying the better of the half thereafter.
Perhaps not surprisingly against the competition's best defence, however, clear chances were at a premium.
Long-range efforts from Messi and Xavi, and a low Messi cross fumbled by Van der Sar, were the best Barça could muster.
Twenty minutes from time, that hard work was undone.
Xavi was allowed to advance down the right; with time and space, the midfielder measured a pinpoint cross for Messi, enjoying similar freedom, and the UEFA Champions League's top scorer produced a fabulous header for his ninth goal of this campaign.
Valdés promptly denied Ronaldo to preserve the two-goal cushion, yet the better openings continued to come at the other end – Van der Sar frustrating Carles Puyol twice and Iniesta.
Sir Alex therefore missed out on joining Bob Paisley as the only manager to lift three European Cups.
Instead, Guardiola's superbly inventive Barça became the first Spanish side to win league, cup and UEFA Champions League in the same season.
Gonzalo Higuaín was born in France while his father, professional Argentine footballer Jorge "El Pipa" Higuaín, was playing in the French Ligue 1.
Having left the country at the age of 10 months, he did not return to France until the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
Even though he does not speak French, he holds a French passport, because his father was naturalized French. But in January 2007, he successfully applied for the Argentine nationality. He is the younger brother of Federico Higuaín, who plays football for Independiente.
Gonzalo Higuain's stunning injury-time strike secured a remarkable 3-2 comeback win for Real Madrid at home to Getafe in the Primera Liga on Tuesday.
The Argentine striker levelled the scores at 1-1 in the first half and Guti equalised again in the 86th, just after Juan Albin had given the visitors the lead for a second time.
The black armband around Grant's black jacket was a very touching gesture , intimating his arrangement to fly out after this match to Auschwitz for a ceremony of Holocaust remembrance.
The Israeli proved everyone and himself that he is a manager with the vision to turn a game, not a casual observer who lets his expensive players make the difference .
Watch the video of Chelsea v Liverpool 30-4-08 semifinal :
Yossi Benayoun claimed his first hat-trick in Liverpool with an 8-0 demolition of Besiktas, their biggest European win in 27 years.
A trio of poacher's finishes from the Israeli midfielder was complemented by doubles for both Peter Crouch and substitute Ryan Babel and skipper Steven Gerrard also got on the scoresheet as Liverpool ran amok.
The win was also the biggest winning margin in a Champions League game.
The UEFA Champions League Anthem, officially titled simply as "Champions League", was performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and sung the word "Champion" in the three official languages used by UEFA: English, German, and French.
The track is played before each UEFA Champions League game, as well as at the beginning and end of television broadcasts of the matches.